The Oilers are winning a lot of the right battles right now, but their penalty kill keeps showing up as the pressure point.
Edmonton has allowed only nine goals over its last five games, a number that reflects solid goaltending, disciplined five-on-five structure and a forecheck that has been doing its job. But five of those nine goals came with the Oilers down a man, and that’s the area that needs the quickest fix.
New associate coach DJ Smith made that a priority after the postseason damage done to the PK, and the results have still been uneven. For the year, Edmonton is sitting at 68.2 per cent, fifth worst in the NHL, and the opposition has scored on the power play in five of seven games.
Utah did it twice on Thursday, cashing in on Josh Samanski’s double-minor for high-sticking and a bench minor.
That sets up the next meeting with a Mammoth power play that is humming at the top of the league. Utah’s man advantage is now first at 37.5 per cent, and it has produced multiple power-play goals in a game a league-best five times. Barrett Hayton, who stretched his point streak to five games, said, “I think we’re just attacking,”
“Obviously that first unit’s been so good snapping around, they’re so dangerous, and I think they’ve done a great job kind of keeping that mindset. We just try to do the same thing, to be honest.”
There was plenty of edge in Thursday’s game, too, and the rematch comes quickly enough to keep those tempers in play. Jack McBain hit Leon Draisaitl in a vulnerable position, Mikhail Sergachev cross-checked Connor McDavid, and Logan Cooley isn’t exactly the type to back away from the physical side either. Connor Murphy said the Mammoth felt the game slip in the early going.
“We didn’t like how it seemed like we lost a little more of the puck battles and physicality to start the game,” said Connor Murphy. “We have to take ownership in our own building to be able to be the ones coming out on top and executing in those plays.
“I felt like our guys, especially coming from our top line, Connor and those guys, were throwing their bodies around and showing true leadership of what we need to be like behind them.”
Edmonton still walks into this one at 6-1-1, with three points separating it from Vegas in the early Pacific Division race, and the quick back-to-back gives the Oilers another chance to bank points. McDavid summed up the challenge by pointing to Utah’s depth and pace.
“They got as balanced a lineup as you’re going to see throughout the league,” said McDavid about the Mammoth. “They play four lines.
Big. Fast.
There’s a lot to like over there, but I thought we did a good job of kind of bending the game back. I thought they were better maybe in the first half, and thought we were better in the second half.
So another chance Saturday.”
The lineup will get a boost. Jason Gregor reported that Zach Hyman will return tonight, and Colton Dach and Jake Walman are also likely to play.
That matters, because Edmonton has felt the shortage of forward depth in its last two games. The easier solution would be to keep the McDavid-Leon Draisaitl-Vasily Podkolzin line intact, since it has been so effective over six games together.
In 83:22 at five-on-five, that trio has been part of a stretch where Edmonton has been outscored 8-3, has posted a 29.21 expected GF%, a 27.27 actual GF%, been outchanced 80-34, out-high-danger-chanced 33-14, outshot 78-36 and out-attempted 171-86 without them, plus Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm off the ice.
The question now is whether Hyman goes back on McDavid’s wing, where he has often played, or whether the Oilers try a new mix with Dach and maybe Hallander or Frederic. Jake Walman’s return should also help on the back end, replacing Shakir Mukhamadullin, who scored his first goal on a pinball ricochet in the third period but had a tough time with Utah’s speed and finishing. Ty Emberson, meanwhile, has earned a real look on the right side and could even be used on the penalty kill.
There’s also a chance for Edmonton to swing the special-teams battle the other way. Utah’s penalty kill is at 75.9 per cent, which is ordinary by Oilers standards, and Edmonton was shut out on two power-play chances Thursday.
On faceoffs, the Oilers were much sharper, winning 58.5 per cent of the draws. Draisaitl led the way at 9-for-12, and Owen Michaels bounced back with a 9-for-15 night.
A few other numbers stand out from the recent run. McDavid still leads the league in scoring with 18 points, though Jack Eichel has climbed to second with 16.
Evan Bouchard’s four-game point streak keeps him first among NHL defensemen with 15 points, while Mikhail Sergachev is tied for third with nine. Clayton Keller scored twice Thursday and Nick Schmaltz assisted on both, giving them a hand in the same goal seven times this season; only McDavid and Draisaitl have done that more this year.
Kailer Yamamoto has also been productive early, with points in all three of his games.
The Oilers will start Tristan Jarry tonight. He is 1-0-1 lifetime against Utah, with a 3.98 goals-against average and an .837 save percentage. There was no word yet on whether Karel Vejmelka will get the start again or whether former Edmonton Oil King Sebastian Cossa will play.
Thursday marked the Oilers’ first regulation loss to the Mammoth since the move to Utah, but Edmonton still owns a 5-1-1 all-time edge in the matchup. After this one, the Oilers head into a five-game homestand.
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